Improvement in velocipedes



J. H. IRWIN;

Velocipede.

Patnted Jan. 5, 1869;

UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JoHN H. IRWIN, on PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN VELOCIPEDES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 85,527, dated January5, 1869.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. IRWIN, of the city ofPhiladelphia, in thecounty of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Veloeipedes; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing, and the letters and figuresmarked thereon, which form a part of this specification, and in whichFigure 1 represents a side elevation of my velocipede, and Fig. 2 afront elevation of the same.

The velocipedes heretofore in use have been drivenby an ordinarywrist-crank, and it has been found that there is great danger of onegetting his feet caught between the crank and the wheel, and, moreparticularly, between the crank and support or standard which passes outover the wheel to make the attachment to.

In mounting said velocipedes when in motion it is diflicult, especiallyfor inexperienced persons, to catch the foot-piece on the crank withtheir feet and avoid the difficulty above referred to.- One is alsoliable to get his feet and legs through between the spokes of anopen-wheel velocipede, and injure them, more especially children andpersons learning to ride. Furthermore, there is considerable resistanceof the air to the spokes of an open-wheel velocipede, as it is drivenrapidly. There is also great inconvenience experienced from theliability of the drive-wheel to strike the riders legs as he turns thewheel, and soil and injure his clothes, and at the same time frequently,in his desire to avoid the rapidly-revolving wheel, causes him to losehis balance and fall. The Wheels of the velocipede being uncovered throwsand and mud upon the rider, and

cause great annoyance.

I have made several improvements for the purpose of overcoming the abovedifficulties;

and my invention consists, first, in attaching to the drive-wheel of avelocipede a disk crank; second, in providing the velocipede with aweb-wheel, constructed as hereinafter more fully described,instead of anopen wheel third, in the shield, placed over that part of thedrive-wheel which is beneath the riders seat.

To enable those skilled in the art to understand how to manufacture anduse my invention, I will proceed to describe the same withparticularity.

The same letters of reference refer to the corresponding parts in thedifferent figures.

A A represent the wheels of the velocipede. There may be two or more,since I do not confine my invention to a two-wheel velocipede, which aremade of the ordinary size, but the space between the spokes, if thewheel is constructed with spokes, is filled with canvas or thin sheetmetal B, or the interior of the wheel may be constructed of thin metal,and the spokes dispensed with.

The object of this construction, which I call a web-wheel, is to preventany injury to the rider from his getting his feet or legs through thewheel, and also to prevent the resistance of the air upon the spokes ofan open wheel, as the wheel revolves rapidly.

To the hub P of the drive-wheel I attach the disks 0, to which areattached the wristpins D, on which are hung the foot-pieces E, in whichthe rider places his feet to drive the velocipede.

As the rider mounts the velocipede he has simply to place his footagainst the side of the disk 0, and it serves as a guide to his foot, sothat it is sure to be taken by the foot-piece as it comes around, andthere is no danger of having the foot caught between it and the wheel orthe standard F.

H is a shield, which is held over the drivewheel A by being attached tothe guide or standard F and the rod or plate I, which do not revolvewith the Wheel, but pass behind the disks 0, and have abearing on thehub P.

The direction of the velocipede is controlled by turning the drive-wheelin the desired direction, which is done by means of the handle J; butwhenever this wheel is turned from a direct line, either by the rider orfrom any other cause, the rear part of the wheel would strike the ridersleg were it not for the shield H 5 but with the shield H over the wheelit strikes the riders leg, and not only protects it from the wheel, butby hearing his leg against the shield he can thereby assist in guidingthe velocipede, and at the same time it will serve to assist him inretaining his balance.

By buttoniug a canvas or leather, K, to the shield H and its attachmentsit forms a mudprotector, covering that part of the wheel which wouldotherwise throw mud or sand upon the rider.

I might make the shield of such shape as to dispense with the canvas K;but it could not be as readily cleaned as when made with a removablecanvas. I also extend the saddlepiece L over the rear wheel of thevelocipede, and attach thereto the removable canvas or leather 0 and rodR.

The canvas 0 is made removable by but-toning onto the standard S,saddle-piece P, and rod R, for the purpose of cleaning, or removipgaltogether if there is no necessity of using 1 Having thus fullydescribed the construction and operation of my invention, what I.

claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. The disk-crank O, in combination with a velocipede-wheel, when saidcrank is constructed and operating substantially as and for the purposesspecified.

2. The wheel A, when constructed substantially as herein described, incombination with'

